Parents
Staying Safe on Facebook
Keeping your child safe online
Setting privacy and safety controls
Facebook connects your child with family, friends and interest groups, and lets them share updates. What they post, see and interact with can influence how they think and feel. Understanding how Facebook works, the risks involved and the controls available can help you guide your child towards a safer online experience.
How can Facebook’s feed affect your child?
Your child’s Facebook feed is personalised. It learns from what they like, comment on, share, and search for, and shows more similar content that it thinks they like.
Even though Facebook has safety settings for younger users, your child may still come across content that:
Involves cyberbullying, harassment or doxxing
Pressures them to look or act a certain way
Spreads misleading information
Shares extreme opinions or promotes harmful stereotypes
If content on Facebook starts to affect your child’s mood or behaviour, it may be time to review their settings with them.
What are Facebook’s default protections for younger users?
The minimum age to create a Facebook account in Singapore is 13 years old. However, some public content may be accessible without an account.
Teen Accounts are Facebook accounts for users aged 13 to 17. Some privacy and safety settings are turned on by default for these accounts to give younger users extra protection.
Settings to encourage healthy screen habits
Push notifications are muted daily from 10pm to 7am
A reminder to close Facebook appears after a total of 60 minutes is spent on it each day
Settings to limit interactions with strangers
Only your child’s Facebook friends can:
See their posts, stories, reels, friends list, and the people, Pages and lists they followed
Comment on their public posts
Posts your child is tagged in must be reviewed before they appear on their profile, and only their Facebook friends can view the tagged posts
No one can remix their public reels
Filters to reduce inappropriate content
Content setting is set to “Show less” to filter out inappropriate content
How can you further protect your child on Facebook?
Even with default protections in place, you can add extra safeguards by reviewing settings together and agreeing on what safe usage looks like in your family.
Discuss what your child sees
Review content controls together so that your child views content that is suitable for them.Encourage your child to:
Tap “Not interested” on posts they do not want to see more of
Filter out or hide comments or keywords that bother them
Unfriend accounts that do not make them feel good
Go through interaction settings together
Together, conduct a "Privacy Checkup”, review the personal data visible on your child’s profile and manage who can interact with them. You and your child can decide on:
Who can friend and follow them, or comment on their posts
Who can see their content
Who can see posts they are tagged in and how tags are managed
Whether there are people they should block or add to their "Restricted List"
Support healthy screen habits
Find out how Facebook makes your child feel and agree on healthy boundaries.
Check in on how Facebook makes your child feel after long sessions
Encourage breaks if scrolling starts to feel overwhelming
Use “Supervision” to oversee your child’s activity on Facebook
"Supervision” allows you to link your Facebook account to your child’s account to manage content, privacy and wellbeing settings directly.
With “Supervision”, you can:
See how much time your child has spent on Facebook
Set your child’s daily screen time limits for Facebook
See their Facebook friends list, and the people and pages they have blocked
Manage and approve some of your child’s privacy settings and sensitive content preferences
View and adjust your child’s audience settings
What else can you do when something does not feel right?
Sometimes, certain content or interactions may cause your child to feel uncomfortable and unsafe.
When that happens, let your child know that:
They do not have to respond or explain themselves
Saving screenshots or links can help if you or your child wants to report harmful behaviour
Blocking or reporting is okay
Talking to you or another trusted adult can help them figure out next steps
Getting support early can prevent things from getting worse
Where can you learn more about Facebook’s safety tools?
Visit these resources to find out more about how to help your child stay safe on Facebook:
Facebook Help Centre: Get help with your child’s account, settings and security, and find answers to common questions
Meta Safety Centre: Explore tips and resources to help your child navigate Meta platforms safely
You can also explore other online safety resources on our website for more advice on keeping your child safe online.